Surprisingly enough, this is not about pen-and-paper RPGs. Rather, I have chosen today to pontificate about the actual items – pen and paper. I have been searching all my life, I think, for just the right notebook. Ok, more like the last six months, but whatever.

Point is, notebooks are important – they let me jot down all the little things I’d otherwise forget and give me a place to store all the little bits of accumulated inspiration and experience that I encounter day to day. On Amazon I finally discovered my answer – Moleskine Cahier journals. I am still on my first set of three, and I find them to be incredible. They are sized just right, and there is something psychologically calming about having one around at all times. That said, I’m soon going to try branching out.

When my current set runs out I shall try out Field Notes, a similar brand with some important differences. The most important practical difference would have to be the paper. Field Notes use a thicker kind of paper that appears and feels a bit different. As such, each Field Notes notebook comes with only 48 pages, but ink is less likely to bleed, run, or smear than on thinner Moleskine pages. I shall reserve judgment until I have seen them, but it’s entirely possible I will be unable to decide which one I prefer, resulting in a serious dilemma of cosmic proportions. It could come down to a serious test of each brand – burning, soaking, etc. Naturally I will post pictures.

And now for pens… While exploring notebooks, I discovered the wide world of fountain pens. I kid you not, there is a thriving online community around fountain pens on the web. There are sites that sell all kinds of brands and vintages, from brand new to pens from the 1920s and earlier. Quality and price range widely, from <$.050 disposable fountain pens to a whopping $79,000 for this fountain pen. There are plenty of more reasonably priced ones, and many of the more expensive feature silver, gold, platinum, and diamonds. Even the nibs are gold-plated. I may break and buy myself one of the less expensive pens, but I fear that it will only lead deeper and deeper into the pits of obsession…

Best of luck writing on that premium paper with a pen that, if sold, could feed a small country for a month!